


Paris is Always a Sweet Idea

by htbthomas



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon-Typical, Crossover, Crossovering Exchange, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Secret Identity, Sweet, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8169835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/pseuds/htbthomas
Summary: Kara falls in love with the pastries at a certain Paris bakery... and gets to meet the city's heroes in the process.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spacecadet72](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/gifts).



> Thank you to jdphoenix for the beta!

James holds out a chocolate croissant toward Kara's mouth, wiggling it temptingly just out of reach. "You want this, I can tell."

"Ja-ames," she whines, going along with his game. "Don't tease me like that. You _know_ it's the last one."

"Is it?" His face turns pensive. He moves it closer to his mouth, the brat. "Maybe I should take it. I only had two."

And she had four, plus a handful of mini-quiches, and a cupcake (or three). But they both know that her Kryptonian metabolism has already burned through all of it. She gazes over at the cute little bakery on the edge of the park with longing. There are plenty of other couples under the trees, feeding each other treats. Like that that girl with the cute pigtails feeding her boyfriend one rainbow-colored macaron after another. Maybe she and James could go get a bunch of those after... 

Kara shakes her head sadly and sighs. "It was nice having a boyfriend, but I'm sure they'll find another award-winning photojournalist at CatCo soon enough…" Her eyes start to glow.

"Fine!" he says, mock-afraid, shoves the croissant into her hands.

She beams, shoving it into her mouth with gusto and humming with pleasure. It's just as amazing as all the rest. "That bakery is a revelation," she says after swallowing the first half. She wipes flaky bits from the corners of her mouth. "Do you think they ship to National City?"

"From Paris?" James' eyebrows rise.

"Yeah, you're right. Even if they did, it wouldn't be as fresh." She shrugs. "I can just pop over here during my coffee break."

"Didn't I tell you you'd love it here?" James looks smug, that dork. "Most romantic city in the world." He leans forward just as she's put the last of her croissant in her mouth, kissing her slowly. Time stops, like it always does when he kisses her. How does he do it? It's like his own superpower.

"Mm," he says as he pulls away. "Delicious. Chocolatey."

She gasps in mock-offense. "You only did that to get the last of the croissant."

He lifts his hands in surrender. "Caught." Then he places his wrists in front of him like a criminal being cuffed. "Take me in."

She pulls him by the wrists into another kiss, not letting go until he melts against her with a moan. They should come here for every date.

A rumbling from a few blocks away pricks at her hearing. She brushes it off as road construction and deepens the kiss. But the rumble just gets louder, and terrified screams add to the chorus. She pulls away, frowning. 

"What is it?" James asks. He knows that look, after all.

"I think something's wrong. Really wrong." The rumbling is now close enough for other people in the park to notice. Mostly pointing and shouting. But the cute macaron-eating couple one bench over both stand up quickly, adopting identical ready-for-action poses. They make awkward excuses to each other and then run off in opposite directions.

"Go," James says, knowing that's what she wants to do.

"But our date…?"

"Can continue after you check it out."

She nods, jogging behind a large stand of trees and then zipping into superspeed to change and fly toward the commotion. When she gets there, she stops in mid-air, confused. Below her, and all around her in the air are dozens of… heroes? Flying ones, leaping ones, swinging ones, muscled ones, just about every color, shape and size. Did another version of Fort Rozz land in the French countryside? Or is Paris the new capital of superbeings? If that's true, it's news to Kara.

They're not fighting each other—it's more like they're showing off for each other. Who can fly the fastest or jump the highest or make the best shield. She X-rays the lot of them. As far as she can tell, they are all human at the core, just with extraordinary abilities. What in the heck is going on? 

Then something changes, and the whole group turns as one toward the end of the street. She zooms in with her telescopic vision: two heroes, one dressed in red with black spots, the other in skin-tight leather and cat ears. These two she's heard of: Ladybug and Chat Noir.

She was hoping to catch a glimpse of them! Even have a conversation, maybe. Getting to know Barry Allen was one of the highlights of last year. If it wasn't impossible—or at least highly unlikely—she'd hope that she could see him again.

But here in Paris, in her own dimension, are actual heroes. Young heroes. Heroes not related to her. 

As she watches from the air, the horde begins to attack them, and Ladybug and Chat Noir fight it off the best they can. Which isn't well.

Time to get involved.

Flying down to land beside them, she throws a punch at a hulking monster-type and a kick at a flying-type. "Ladybug, Chat Noir! I'm here to help!" she calls to them in French as she bends a pole around a guy with robot arms. Speed-learning languages is a perk to speed reading.

They ignore her. "Where's the akuma?" Ladybug shouts to Chat Noir. "Can you see it?" She tosses her yo-yo out to wrap around an attacker and toss him off to the side.

"No! There are too many of them. I can't tell what the source is!" Chat Noir scoops up another with his staff and vaults them over his head. 

"Akuma?" Kara asks after freezing a guy shooting fireballs. 

That gets their attention. Probably the freezing part more than the words. But instead of answering, Ladybug tosses her yo-yo at Kara, the cord wrapping around her arms in a blur of speed. 

Kara sighs. A flimsy cord? She pushes outward to snap it into bits… and it holds firm. "...What?" She struggles with it a little more and nothing gives at all. It's keeping her arms as tight against her body as it would if it were made of kryptonite. "What is this made of?"

Ladybug doesn't answer. She pulls Kara toward her with an intense scowl, then studies Kara's face, especially her eyes, intently. Frowning, she says, "You're not the akuma."

"Akuma?" Kara asks, still confused. Then she recalls what she read when studying up on Paris' heroes on that blog—the LadyBlog. Akumas are the source of the supervillains power. They look like black butterflies when possessing a person, and white once they are cleansed. "Oh! No! This is not me." She gestures with her eyes and chin at all the chaos that Chat Noir is kicking and punching away while Ladybug questions her. A flying missile sails through the air out of Chat Noir's reach and toward Ladybug's head. Kara trains her heat vision and it explodes, safely out-of-range. "I'm just here to help."

Ladybug takes a step back, roundhouse kicking another attacker away while seeming to process what Kara is saying. "Who are you?"

"I'm Supergirl, from the United States. I'm here to help." She cocks her head. "Am I messing up the wording or something?" Maybe she shouldn't be feeling so cocky about her speed-study of French. 

Ladybug blinks. "Supergirl?" She releases Kara in a flash. "Forgive me, we're not used to having help." Behind her, Chat Noir knocks something out of the air with his staff.

Kara punches yet another flying object off to the side, then holds out her hand to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Chat Noir's ears perk up as Ladybug is shaking her hand and he turns toward her with excitement. "Oh wow, it _is_ Supergirl!" He knocks back another foe and then scampers over to shake her hand next. "Chat Noir, such a fan. You are just amazing!" 

Ladybug lassos the top of a streetlight and swings around to knock back another enemy. Chat notes it with pride, then points a thumb at Ladybug. "I mean, I'm a bigger fan of Ladybug here, of course."

"Of course."

Ladybug lands beside them, scoffing lightly, but Kara can tell she's pleased. If these two aren't dating yet, why the heck not?

Supergirl punches back two attackers at once and then points to the yo-yo, curious. "Is your weapon made of some sort of alien material?"

"This?" Ladybug lifts the yo-yo. "I have no idea! All I know is that it—and our costumes—are powered by ancient magic."

Magic! No wonder! Clark once warned her that even he wasn't immune. Which means that she has to be extra careful in this battle.

The horde is thickening again around them, despite their vigilance during the introductions. "Excuse me," she says, spinning in a slow circle to blow everyone back several hundred meters with her super-breath.

"Neat trick! Wish I could do that," Ladybug says,. "But they're not going to stop coming until we find the akuma."

She's right. They’re still coming from all directions, including the air. And a moment later, a mole-like creature bursts out from the street behind them. Without hesitating, Kara scoops the two of them up and zooms into the air high above. 

Everyone she's flown reacts a little differently. James relaxes and takes in the wonder of the sights. Alex grips her arms in white-knuckled fear, though her face shows nothing. Wynn gives her a full-body hug, not opening his eyes until they've touched down again. Cat focuses on Kara, trying to assess her every move and motive. 

These two are just as unique. Ladybug's eyes are wide and her muscles are tense, like she's afraid but doesn't want to show it. Chat Noir just smiles. He'd probably feel at home above the clouds with the jetliners. 

To Ladybug, Kara says, "Don't worry, I've got you."

"Yeah," Ladybug says, blowing out a breath. "I know. It's just—so high…"

A soft chuckle comes from Kara’s other side. "Is my Lady a- _furr_ -aid of heights? When we're at the top of the Eiffel Tower every other day?"

Ladybug blushes at the edges of her mask while simultaneously rolling her eyes. "Not any more than you would be 20,000 leagues under the sea."

Chat Noir does a head-to-toe shudder. "Me- _ow_. Point taken." He punctuates it with extended claws.

Kara hates to interrupt the repartee but they do have a villain to catch. "I thought maybe it would be easier to see the akuma from up here."

Ladybug's fear switches to interest in a flash. "Oh, good idea!" She squints below, then points into the distance. "Can you fly us over there?"

Kara sees what she's talking about. Most of the costumed heroes are coming from that direction. It could be where they’re being created. When they get close enough to the center of activity, she pauses, frowning. The street is filled with people, a churning crowd. How did so many people end up in one place?

"We have to knock out the statues first," Chat Noir says. There's her answer. Huge statues are scooping people up from the neighboring streets and depositing them into the crowd. Only a few costumed heroes are making their way out. So far, the three of them haven't been noticed—with all the chaos, they're probably blending in.

"I can't see the akuma yet." Ladybug's squint gets deeper. "Can you, Chat?"

"No, it's just a swirling mass of people down there. They're turning superpowered at random."

"I can't tell yet, either," Kara says. She cycles through ideas. She can't use breath, freezing, heat, speed or strength to find the source, only to protect Ladybug and Chat Noir from harm. X-Ray vision shows nothing new, they’re all humans whether transformed or untransformed. Telescopic vision isn't very helpful, either. If this is magic, what _can_ she really do? 

She slows everything down, scanning the crowd for any inconsistency, no matter how small. Is there anyone in the crowd who isn't A) panicked or B) on the warpath? She catches a woman on the cusp of transformation, so there are some in between the two states. How does it happen? 

Then she sees it. A young boy sitting on the edge of a third floor balcony, swinging his feet slowly back and forth. He points his finger lazily at a random person, and suddenly they are green and ten feet tall. It could be coincidence, but he's draped head-to-toe in glossy technicolor frames. Ah _ha_.

She opens her mouth to tell them, but Chat Noir beats her to it. "Over there. The boy dressed like a comic book."

"Good eye," Kara tells him. 

He points at his mask, winking. "These give me _purr_ -fect vision." Better than perfect, if he saw that as quickly as she did! "Can you see the akuma?" he asks Ladybug.

"I can't tell what it is." Ladybug narrows her eyes. "There's nothing in his hand. Does he see us yet?"

"I don't think so." 

With a burst of speed, Kara sets them down on the roof of the kid's building. "All right," she says, setting her shoulders, "give me a second. I'll knock him out and bring him up here to search—"

"Whoa, whoa!" the two say together, holding up their hands in nearly identical expressions of alarm. "We don't just knock people unconscious!" Ladybug scolds. 

teeth bared with disgust,Chat Noir adds, "Is that how you handle things in America?"

"Uhhh." She's not sure how to respond. It's not like her go-to _every_ time is brute strength, but... it is often enough. And she's sure she would be gentle enough to avoid permanent damage… No. They're right. After all, when in Paris… "Sorry. What do you suggest?" She hopes her sincerity shows. 

Ladybug softens. "You have X-ray vision, right?" At Kara's nod, she says, "Can you scan down through the building and see if he has an item on him that could contain the akuma? It could be very small."

"Sure." It only takes a minute. Folded into a pocket of the jeans he's wearing below the outfit is a torn-out page from a comic book, crumpled into a ball. "Got it. A crumpled piece of comic in his pocket."

"His pocket?" Chat Noir grimaces. "That's going to be tough to snag."

Maybe brute strength is the wrong play, but what about speed? "I'm fast. I'll get him up here. You take care of the rest."

They look at each other, seeming to read each other's minds. Can they, like J'onn? "Do it," Ladybug tells her.

Kara isn’t as fast as Barry, but Ladybug has barely finished drawing her next breath before Kara is depositing their villain in front of her. He looks around, surprised for only a moment. Then he gives them a smile, grim and crooked. "I knew you'd come to see the Editor-in-Chief."

Ladybug’s answer is to wrap the Editor tight with her yo yo cable, pinning his arms to his sides.

But unfortunately, not his fingers.

"Look out!" Kara shouts, just as Chat Noir leaps in front of Ladybug.

Kara sprints into motion, but her speed is useless against his akuma-based magic. As she watches, in horrified slow motion, Chat Noir's form flashes from leathers and cat ears to a T-shirt and jeans and then to silver-plated skin. He tumbles toward the ground in surprise.

Ladybug's shout of terror and rage is slowed as well as it leaves her mouth. As Kara watches, her face twists from fear and worry to something else. Her hand covers her mouth and her eyes go wide... with shock?

And then she disappears.

Too late, Kara sees that the Editor pointed with each hand. Chat Noir's sacrifice was in vain. 

Kara’s speed isn't completely useless though. She rips through the Editor's costume to retrieve the comic page. What does she do with it again? Oh yes. She tears it in half. A black butterfly pushes toward the sky with slow beats of its wings.

The world goes back to normal as she lets her super speed go. But nothing has changed. The kid is still in his now-ripped costume, though he's dazed. Chat Noir is just as silver and Ladybug is just as—gone—as before. 

Out of the air comes Ladybug's voice. "I need my yo-yo!"

It's still wrapped around the boy. With a jerk, Kara retrieves it, squinting with infrared vision to see Ladybug's outline. There.

She tosses it. As if by magic, the yo-yo swings up and captures the akuma. Kara watches it flutter away, purified. She shakes her head. How differently problems are handled here!

Ladybug does her magic and within a few minutes the kid is back to himself, Chat Noir is back to leather and cat ears, and Ladybug is visible again. The street below is filled with dazed people, but they're just average people—no more flying, lifting, or speeding for them. Chat Noir shakes his head to get his bearings and holds out a fist to Ladybug. She just stares at it blankly for a long moment. Chat Noir frowns and says tentatively, "Pound it?"

Ladybug startles and then finally brings up her fist. "Uh, yes, pound it!" Then she titters in a really odd, embarrassed way, color rising on her cheeks.

What is going on there?

Before she can figure it out, a beep sounds from Ladybug's ears. "Oh, um, I have to go now. It was, uh, nice meeting you, Supergirl! Uh, see you, Chat!" She waves and then plunges off the roof to swing away.

"And there she goes," Chat Noir says, his voice tinged with more than a little admiration.

Kara chuckles. "You've got it bad, don't you?"

He shrugs. "What, me? Sadly she's not interested, and I'm not available." He takes a few sauntering steps toward her and holds out his hand to shake. "Thanks for helping us. Anything I can do in return?"

She thinks for a moment. "Hmm. Know any good places for dessert?"

* * *

Which is how she and James end up in front of that little bakery by the park again. "Hey, I have it on good authority that these are the best macarons in Paris," she tells James before he can ask.

"Whose authority? Your sweet tooth's?" he teases.

"No…" She opens the doors and closes her eyes as she breathes in the aroma of baking bread and sugar. When she opens them again, she sees a familiar shock of blond hair at the counter. She points, suddenly sure. "From _him_."

The boy leans against the counter, smiling at something a girl with also-very-familiar pigtails is saying. She feeds him a croissant and points out a few flaky bits left on the corners of his mouth. He wipes them away with a blush. And she's sure of this, too—they were the cute couple in the park earlier. And Paris' heroes, to boot. 

She approaches them. "Fancy running into you two here!" she says with a broad smile. "No wonder you recommended this place."

Instead of surprised recognition, they both look up at her in confusion, then at each other with shock. The girl drops the croissant she'd been holding, and it bounces across the counter and then to the floor. She yelps, busying herself with cleaning it up.

The boy cocks his head, frowning politely. "Do we know each other?"

"Uh, y…" Oh. Way to be Captain Oblivious, Kara. Of course, they're keeping a secret identity, just like she is. And from each other, too, by their reactions. Though the girl seems to know more than she's letting on… "A new friend told me about this place," Kara says, removing her glasses and letting her hair out of its messy bun. "Though I have to admit, I've dropped half my food budget for this trip here already."

His mouth goes round. He blinks at her a few times, speechless. The girl stands up, hand broom and dustpan in her hands and adopts the same pose after getting another look at Kara.

"You know," Kara continues, amused, "I keep a lot of secrets myself. But it's good to have a few close friends who know."

"More than a few," James says, sliding an arm around her waist and kissing the top of her head. "She could fill a large dinner party with the people who know. And has."

"Hey!" she complains, smacking him playfully on the chest. To them, she says, "It lightens the load."

Neither one unfreezes, though she can tell they're both listening. Is it a French thing? Or a them thing?

She digs in her purse for a business card, then sets it on the counter.. "Anyway, if you ever visit National City, look me up! There's an ice cream shop that's to _die_ for." 

She sets a couple bills on the counter and snags a box of pre-packaged macarons, all without any response. Then she waves and lets them cope with the bomb she just dropped in private.

"Was that the right thing to do?" she asks James on the flight back. 

He chuckles, giving her arm a squeeze. "I can't imagine you doing anything else."


End file.
